The World’s Largest Swimming Pool

Compliments of oddchick.com

The most emblematic building work at San Alfonso holds the current Guinness record as the world’s largest crystalline water pool, with an extension of more than one kilometer in length, eight hectares and 250 million liters of water. Hard to imagine? We are talking about nothing less than the equivalent to 6,000 familiar 8-meter-long pools.

If you like doing laps in the swimming pool, you might want to stock up on the energy drinks before diving in to this one. It is more than 1,000 yards long, covers 20 acres, had a 115ft deep end and holds 66 million gallons of water.

But if you fancy splashing out on one of your own – and you have the space to accommodate it – then beware: This one took five years to build, cost nearly $1 billion and the annual maintenance bill will be $2 million.

The man-made saltwater lagoon has been attracting huge crowds to the San Alfonso del Mar resort at Algarrobo, on Chile’s southern coast, since it opened last month.

Its turquoise waters are so crystal clear that you can see the bottom even in the deep end. It dwarfs the world’s second biggest pool, the Orthlieb – nicknamed the Big Splash – in Morocco , which is a mere 150 yards long and 100 yards wide. An Olympic size pool measures some 50 yards by 25 yards.

There are also activities to be enjoyed by all family members, like massive bike rides, amusing bingos, theatre plays, fashion shows and interesting art exhibitions.